Bet On it by Jodie Slaughter was a smash, five star hit for me from the moment we meet Aja Owens in the frozen foods aisle. It just so happens that Walker Abbott meets her at the same time. Although they are strangers, Walker reaches out to Aja while she is having a panic attack there. Not quite a cute meet but they meet again at, of all things, a Bingo night the attraction is instant. Aja is a beautiful women who grapples with anxiety,

Walker returns to his hometown to help his grandmother, a Bingo enthusiast, who is recovering from a fall. His grandmother is the only reason he would ever set foot in that town again. Well that and what turns out to be the best peach cobbler in the world featured at the local diner. And, now, Aja.

I was 20% in to Bet On It by Jodie Slaughter and immediately knew I needed a physical copy. It’s steamy, has mental health rep, and made me crave a peach cobbler topped with Blue Bell ice cream.

Aja Owens and Walker Abbott meet twice - once while Aja is having a panic attack in the local Piggly Wiggly and then at the bingo hall where she finds out Walker is the grandson of her bingo buddy Ms. May.

Walker is only in Greenbelt for the summer to help his grandmother recover from an accident. He has PTSD from growing up with parents who were drug addicts and being bullied by people in town for his own panic attacks. Aja has generalized anxiety and is settling in to small town life while working to put herself out there to make friends.
Weekly bingo games and a summer affair is all Walker can offer since he has zero plans of staying in the town that has terrible memories for him. But the more time they spend together, plus a bingo-winning sex pact, Walker and Aja will have to overcome their fears to get their HEA.

Living with anxiety and reading about characters who are learning to manage it too is one of my favorite parts about reading books, whether in a romance or general fiction. I especially related to how Aja and Walker (over)think about situations to try to manage to outcome. And although this book has been on my TBR for a while, I felt like the timing and the universe was sending me a message. One I needed to receive for reflection of my own relationships with my family and building community in a city I’ve grown up in and wasn’t ready to come back to. But watching Aja and Walker let go of their fear and try can help me be brave too.
Jodie Slaughter is now an auto-buy author for me, and I’m looking forward to reading Miri’s book next!

The best thing about this book was how real it was. It didn't shy away from talking about the hard parts of being a human and openly discussed Aja and Walker's mental health struggles. I really wish more books did this. Mental health is something that we need to not be afraid to discuss. Another great part about this was the fact that we got to watch both Aja and Walker grow while dealing with their respective mental health issues.

Aja Owens, 28, preferred to have met someone a few times before she had a panic attack in front of them, but this time it couldn’t be avoided. She started to have a panic attack right in the frozen foods isle in the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. In the midst of it, a stranger came and stood beside her. He didn’t try to calm her down, or touch her, or any other thing that other folks tried to do, he just stood there. And she was grateful to him, and completely embarrassed.

Aja spent every Wednesday at the Green Belt City Bingo hall. For 3 hours she sat next to the stone pillar and played. The Bingo Hall reminded her of the church basement she spent time in as a kid. The familiar atmosphere was calming to her. Every week like clockwork, she would sit by Miss May Abbot, a white woman in her 60’s with bright red hair. Except for the past three weeks, she hadn’t been showing up. Aja was starting to get worried. When she showed back up, both her arms were in a cast, and she brought with her Walker Abbot.

He was her 29 year old grandson who lived in Charleston and wrote for the newspaper. He had wavy blonde hair and a red birthmark on his neck. He was tall with a voice as sweet as honey.

Wally loved the peach cobbler from Minnie’s diner. When he was 6, his dad Benny took him out for cobbler and then got pulled over on the way home for driving under the influence. Gram had to come get him, his mom had split town years before.

At Minnie’s, worker Lousie Smith would always spread hurtful rumors about him and his dad that followed him around. It took him years of therapy and an abundance of zoloft to get over the problems.

Aja and Walker made a bet after realizing they had a strong attraction for each other- they bet each other that they would only put out for one another if one of them hit BINGO at the games they played. This insured Aja wouldn’t get involved, and Walker could go back to Charleston as soon as May’s arms healed up.

It was supposed to be easy… But when ever is that the case?

I loved the very real conversations that were had around PTSD and mental illness. I love the kindness and patience many of the people in town showed towards the main characters when they suffered. I love all the considerations that were taken for those characters. I love that the Mental Illness was not the sole focus of the book, but it was present. I think this would be a great book for a Neuro-typical adult to read if they wanted to get an idea about the mind of a neuro- diverse adult.

This is the first book I have read by Jodie Slaughter, and I am really impressed by her writing! I liked the development of the characters, and how they tried to keep apart, only to keep being pushed back together. It was an extremely fun book to read!

Audio book review: Angel Pean narrated, and she did a wonderful job! I think her voice fit the character well, she was age appropriate for the character, and her inflection was really good in some parts! One thing I really hated, in this case, was the third person past tense solo narrator. I hated that only one narrator read the entire book. It would have been very nice to have a second narrator read the Walker chapters. The third person past tense is also not my favorite writing style!

**Audio book notes do not change my GR book rating, it is only here for reference. This entire review is also cross posted to Amazon and Audible**

I fell in love with Aja and Walker. This was the perfect, steamy romance!, fun and sexy. The fact that the author spread the word on anxiety, something many suffer with but not everyone has the support these two had. Definitely recommend picking this one up like yesterday!

3.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book early. Rating and review are my own. This review is a little (ok a lot) late, but here are my thoughts anyway.
Bet On It was a sweet and steamy romance with a lot of great anxiety rep. One of the things I appreciated most about this book was how much it delved into both of the main characters anxieties and how that felt and impacted their relationships. As someone with anxiety myself I related very much with them on this level. In addition to that both characters were likeable and their romance was cute and very steamy. My biggest issue was I felt it was too long in some parts and needed a little more from the side characters. I was so glad to see Aja make new friends and I kinda wanted to see more of them and more of Walker’s granny.
This was a good contemporary romance I would recommend to anyone who wants a steamy romance that isn’t afraid to dip into mental health issues like anxiety.

This one was so cute! I loved the banter between the two, and the level of love that deepened despite their best efforts.

I loved the meet cute here and tghe meddling elders and cast of characters,and why not have a bingo sex pact!

This book fell a bit short for me, but I was grateful for the opportunity to read an advance copy. It felt a bit wordy at times and dragged out, but I absolutely loved the premise.

I received a reviewer copy of Bet on It by Jodie Slaughter from the publisher St. Martin's Press from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Aja Owens and Walker Abbott's first meeting takes place when he helps her calm down in the midst of a panic attack at the grocery store frozen foods. They both feel a connection because they both struggle with anxiety and seem to understand what things are going through. The next time they meet when Walker escorts his grandma to Bingo at the church. Walker is only in Greenbelt to help his grandma and really hates the area, while Aja feels more at peace. The two of them connect and end up forming a sex-bet associated with Bingo but continue to connect, could it be more? Can they overcome their difference feelings towards Greenbelt?

What I Loved: I really liked the concept of the Bingo game and finding yourself a place in the Bingo event in a small town, so charming! I also really loved the connection that these two formed over their shared anxiety and trauma. It was really believable and I liked the way that the author handled the anxiety and how others in their life supported them and met their needs respectively. I also found the issue of the location challenge totally believable.

What I didn’t like so much: At times I got very frustrated with the lead male. I didn't fully understand his motivations and his anger with his grandma.

Who Should Read It: People who love books set in small southern towns.

Summary: A bet over Bingo leads to lots of connection.

I absolutely adored reading this! Aja and Walker's chemistry is straight fire. Plus Walker's grandmother is the cutest little wing woman if I ever did read about one. Also, I love that bingo is involved, as I am an avid bingo player. I think Jodie Slaughter knocked this one out of the park and I can't wait to pick up a final copy!

3 stars. This book was such a mixed bag. Pros: mental health rep, mixed race couple. Cons: cookie cutter relationship, no real distinguishing....anything. I just didn't care about any of it by the end unfortunately. Sigh.

this was unfortunately a DNF at the 55% mark for me! the sex scenes were so cringey and I felt really disconnected from the characters. for some reason I just did not care about them or what they were going through at all.

I really wanted to love this story, and parts of it I totally did love. But, I found it somewhat predictable in a way that wasn't comforting but kind of tedious. I also found myself disliking the male lead character as it came toward the end.

This was surprisingly steaaaaamy. im not sure I LOVED the story, but I definitely like the mental health representation in this book. I did not feel very connected to any of the characters and the story is based in a small town but I felt like it lacked the small town charm that could have been set. Thank you to Netgalley for a ARC of this book.

This is a cute and spicy romance that has a little extra. Aja and Walker meet at a Bingo hall in fictional small town Greenbelt, SC. Aja moved there in search of a quieter life, and Walker is in town from Charleston for a few months helping his grandmother recover from a fall. Sparks fly and the two get to know each other, all the while dealing with their own anxieties and past traumas. I appreciate how the author incorporates characters who are real people with real issues, dealing with them in ways that are sometimes messy. Themes of family, trauma, healing, love, friendships, anxiety and more round out the story.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
#netgalley #stmartinspress

I like to read romance as an escape; these character's anxieties were just too much for me to enjoy this. I appreciate the representation, but it's not what I wanted.

What I really loved about this book was the mental health talk, and Aja’s journey in making new friends. As someone with social anxiety, that really resonated with me. I really liked the two main characters, but unfortunately just didn’t love the romance. I didn’t feel a strong chemistry between these two.

This was a perfect mix of steamy & sweet. I loved the bingo aspect of Walker's Grandmother and Aja's friendship.

I really enjoyed Bet On It. I listened to the audiobook & it was an entertaining listen. As someone with anxiety, I really related to and appreciated the anxiety representation in both characters. I would round up to 5 stars.